EYFS Curriculum Outline 2018-19
Our Learning Wheel explained Our learners
Our schools are small enough to ensure that each learner is known. By placing our learners at the centre of our approach, we create an education that allows individuality to flourish.
Developing character
Fostering a secure bedrock of self-esteem and a sure moral compass is essential preparation for a future in a complex world.
Learning segments
We group our subjects together into six curriculum areas. We teach subjects in an integrated way, because the future belongs
to those who can think way beyond narrow subject boundaries.
Learning to think
Education is not just about imparting knowledge. It’s about teaching young people how to think for themselves: critically, creatively and collaboratively.
Outer circle
We prepare young people to blaze a trail in whatever field they choose. They leave us equipped with a breadth of skills, ready to become responsible global citizen
Key workers Busy Bees - Mrs Guerrero and Miss Shriever Kindergarten - Miss Armstrong, Mrs Cummins, Miss Aislabie Reception - Mrs Andrews - Aspen class, Miss Brownbridge, Miss Wynne-Powell - Beech class, Mr Hannaway - Horse Chestnuts class
Subject specialists Language and Communication Madame Prowse (French), Mrs Foreman (Spanish), Mrs Fernández Smart (Spanish) Physical Development: Physical Education and Well-being (Big Gym and Little Gym) Mr Evans, Mr Godfrey, Mrs Parkin, Miss Grayson Understanding The World: Scientific Understanding, Forest School Mr Hannaway (Forest School Leader) Expressive Arts and Design: Creative and Performing Arts Miss Wynne-Powell (Creative and Design Engineering), Ms Hyland and Miss Mullaly (Music)
Communication and Language: Listening and attention, Understanding, Speaking Key Topics
In Busy Bees and Kindergarten, children will have opportunities to: develop their communication skills when talking about themselves, their families and people who help us in our school and wider community. The children will be practising their listening skills when sharing stories and in conversation. They will be encouraged to take turns in conversation, to talk about their wants and needs and to listen and respond to simple instructions. In their play they will be encouraged to become other characters such as a doctor, nurse or police officer.
In Reception, children will have opportunities to: listen to stories linked to our thematic learning focus ‘Into The Woods’ and ‘Digging Down’. They will have opportunities to talk to each other, in small groups, circle times and other whole
class situations and to discuss stories and take part in drama and role play. Role play areas will be decided by the children themselves and they will be involved with the planning and setting up of these areas.They will sequence stories, thinking about the beginning, middle and end and explore character profiles. They will be encouraged to ask and respond to questions. This link has some useful ideas for ways in which you can inspire and support your child’s love of stories and reading: www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/intelligent-creative-child/child-loves-read
French In Kindergarten: We will look at where France is on the map, explore ideas of how we could get there and find out who has visited France and what they saw. Pupils will use songs and basic conversation to learn to say who they are. We will introduce basic numbers, colours and animals and through songs and games, gain confidence and focus on clear pronunciation. In Reception: We will revise and use basic numbers and introductions in games, songs and conversation activities. Through the song “Le vieux MacDonald a une ferme� we will learn about farm animals and use simple likes and dislikes to describe our feelings towards these animals. Towards, Christmas, we will explore French Christmas traditions, songs and link in farm animals with the nativity. Spanish EYFS The primary focus for Spanish lessons is on listening and speaking. The children will learn through a range of songs, stories, rhymes and games. They will have an opportunity to respond to classroom language and basic instructions. They will link their learning to the thematic learning topic by looking at animals and plants in Spanish and using them as a starting point for counting and describing objects according to colour and size. They will have plenty of opportunity to learn about Spanish pronunciation and to have a go at tricky sounds.
Physical Development: Moving and handling, Health and self-care In Busy Bees and Kindergarten: There will be plenty of opportunities to dance and respond to music. The children will develop their gross motor skills and core body strength in weekly Big Gym sessions, when scrambling on logs and climbing the trees at Forest School and in activities such as playing in our loose
parts area. Little Gym sessions will enable the children to develop their hand-eye coordination when throwing and using small games equipment. Playground games such as catch and hopscotch are played in the playground with friends and adults which will also contribute to the children’s physical development. Activities such as threading, pegging and balancing bricks will all help the children to develop their fine-motor skills and strengthen their grip in preparation for pre-writing skills. The children will be encouraged to use the toilet independently when possible and practise self help skills such as washing hands, dressing and undressing. It is particularly useful to practise putting on and taking off coats and shoes. We encourage healthy eating and talk about the importance of a balanced diet. All Early Years staff eat lunch with Kindergarten and Reception. Children are encouraged to try new foods and are supported if mealtimes are tricky. In Reception: Children will practise changing for PE and outdoor play and will be encouraged to independently choose appropriate outdoor clothing to suit the weather. They will develop their awareness of healthy lifestyles (this is linked to their PSE development), ways of staying healthy and safe and will learn to describe changes to their body after being active. Children will learn to use tools, techniques and materials safely and competently. Throughout the term, children will have many opportunities to develop their pincer grip through continuous provision activities aimed at developing finger and thumb (pincer) grip. During Read, Write Inc. sessions, children will recite handwriting phrases which reinforce correct letter formation. There are lots of fun activities which help young children develop a strong pincer grip which is important for future handwriting skills. This link will give you ideas of how you can help support your child’s development at home: 5 Fun Activities for Pincer Grasp Practice - Growing Hands-On Kids www.growinghandsonkids.com/5-fun-activities-pincer-grasp-practice.html
Continuous provision activities aim to reinforce children's skills in physical development. For example: Loose parts play - Lifting, carrying, placing, turning, balancing, risk assessment, safe storage/use, pushing, pulling, problem solving, teamwork Manipulative materials - Pinching, rolling, cutting, squashing, mark making, finger strength Fixed Park / playground equipment - Climbing, sliding, problem solving, balancing, swinging, hanging, rotating, leaping, hopping, jumping and landing Block play - Fine motor, balance, strategy Painting, drawing - Pencil grip, large arm movements, small arm movements, developing finger strength Sensory play - Pouring, tipping, arc movements encouraging shoulder movement, crossing the midline, cutting, stirring, whisking, digging, patting
Music/Dance - Moving in response to music, following a sequence, twirling, spinning, crossing midline, swaying Gardening/ digging area - Digging, carrying, banging, one-handed tools, using tools safely, pulling Woodwork Bench - Sawing, hammering, precision, safety measures, turning, crossing midline, fine motor
In Little and Big Gym: Children will have the opportunity to work individually and with their peers in PE lessons. Big Gym will allow pupils to develop their confidence using apparatus, improve their balance and control and begin to replicate simple actions. Little Gym will incorporate a variety of activities focusing on mastery of basic motor skills, spatial awareness and development of coordination. We will look to identify and recognise equipment and start to develop key vocabulary relevant to sport. Pupils will start to think about how their bodies feel before, during and after exercise and understand the benefits exercise can bring. You can help your child by encouraging them to stay active outside of school. Joining a local swimming club is strongly advised to develop your child’s confidence in the water whilst any local sports clubs will help to improve your child’s physical, mental and social skills.
Personal, Social, Emotional Development: Making relationships, Self-confidence and self awareness, Managing feelings and behaviour In Busy Bees and Kindergarten: In the first few weeks, the children will be encouraged to say goodbye to carers and settle into new routines. They will be getting to know each other, forming friendships and growing in confidence to join in with activities and games. The children will become familiar with their key workers and other members of the school community. They will be encouraged to play cooperatively and follow our Early Years motto: Kind Hands, Kind Words, Kind Feet. There will be many opportunities to talk about our feelings and develop appropriate strategies in which to deal with them as well as opportunities to explore the Kindergarten setting, both inside and outside and to learn where toys and resources belong. The children will be encouraged to help look after toys and to tidy them away. They will learn about what is safe and what is unsafe when using tools and resources, moving around the school or in the way we behave.
In Reception: During their initial settling in period, children will be encouraged to independently organise themselves with activities such as hanging up their own coat, putting their snack away and placing their reading folder in the box. They will gradually learn the daily and weekly routines: register, carpet times, snack times, classroom responsibilities, PE, Independent learning, tidy up time etc. They will learn and be encouraged to comply with expectations for behaviour throughout the day, during carpet time, assemblies, and during specialist subject teaching. Our new starters will very soon get to know their teachers, learn their names and who to go to when in need of help. The children will learn where things are indoors and out and will be encouraged to think about what is safe and what is unsafe. They will make a set of class rules together and develop strategies for sharing and team work. Children will be encouraged to care for our environment: looking after and respecting classroom and outdoor resources. In PSHE focus sessions: Children throughout the Early Years will explore the roles of various people in our school community and how they help to look after the school and all its pupils. They will think about activities available outside of school, things they like and dislike doing. They will retell stories and think about emotions linked to stories and starting school. They will talk about their family and explore what makes a good friend. Children will develop their e-safety awareness and explore what they should do if they are unhappy with anything they might see on an iPad; how do Ipads make us feel? Is it safe to ‘tap’? Continuous provision activities aim to reinforce children's skills in personal, social and emotional development. For example: Loose parts play - Collaboration, turn taking, listening to others ideas Role play - Sensitivity and respect for others Sand timers - Sharing, taking turns Board games/ large puzzles - Taking turns, following rules Music/Dance/Art - Awareness of other cultures
Literacy: Reading, Writing We teach phonics through Read, Write Inc. from Kindergarten class through to Year 3. This is a very structured programme which has an enormous impact on children’s phonic development and their ability to read and write. We run workshops where we explain how we teach phonics and how you can support your child’s phonics development at home. You can
also find a series of information and tutorial videos explaining the basics of Read Write Inc.Phonics which will help you support your child at home http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/ Children love sharing and listening to stories. They will enjoy weekly visits to the school library as well as frequent book sharing opportunities in their classroom. Encourage your child to join in with the repeated phrases, hold the book and turn the pages. Look for familiar letters in books and in print when you are out and about such as shop signs and labels. Get your child to be the reader and ‘read’ stories to you or older siblings.
In Busy Bees and Kindergarten: Children develop their awareness of sounds in their environment. There will be many mark making opportunities available for example, in role plays areas - writing on clipboards in a building site, making appointment notes in the opticians, making a list to tick on notepads. The mark making area is available to the children during Independent Learning time where they have a selection of pens, pencils, chalks as well as shaving foam, glitter trays and dry wipe boards available to draw and write. The children will practise recognising their own names and be encouraged to find their name label to stick onto any craft they do. They will practise tracing or writing letters from their name and creating patterns that will lead to letter formation later in the year. We will introduce the children to the ‘Read Write Inc’ phonics programme. This will be a daily session where the children will be introduced to the letter sounds and they will become familiar with the picture cards which correspond to each sound. In addition they will be playing sound games, listening to words as they are sounded out as well as having a go at forming the letters in the air, in paint, mud or using pens and pencils. To help your child with their phonic development try to focus on their pure sounds and not to emphasise the “uh” at the end, for example mmmmm or rrrr instead of “muh” or “ruh”. www.oxfordowl.co.uk is a great website which has good videos to further demonstrate this. Play lots of sound games with your child; I spy, lotto, letter puzzles all help children to familiarise themselves with letters and sounds. In Reception: Children will learn handwriting phrases in their Read, Write Inc. lessons to help them form letters correctly and they will be encouraged to write their name independently. They will have many opportunities to write for a range of purposes such as instructions, persuasive writing, writing lists, letters, invitations and recounts.
Mathematical Understanding: Numbers, Shape, space and measures In Busy Bees: Our youngest children, will practise sequencing daily events and Humpty Dumpty pictures and sing the ‘Days Of The Week’ song. As part of their daily routines and as responsibility as ‘Special Helper’ they will practise accurate counting and numeral recognition by being encouraged to count the children present in the class and finding the corresponding number on a number line. Mathematical understanding will range from activities such as counting candles for playdough cakes to selecting and talking about shapes of materials needed to build a ‘junk’ model. In Kindergarten: Children will experience number and mathematical concepts in many everyday activities. Children will sequence daily events and talk about the concept of time. They will continue to develop recognition of numbers to 10 and beyond. We will practise counting objects accurately and talking about when we have more/ less or the same amount. The children will be introduced to the concept of addition and subtraction through practical activities and songs. They will begin to recognise some coins by using toy money at the shop. In Reception: Children will focus on reciting and counting accurately from 1 to 10, then 20 and to 100. They will practise counting objects both in a line and in random arrangements as well as counting on and back from given numbers. Children will match numerals to the number in a set and explore ‘zero’ being an empty set as well as comparing and ordering numbers. Children will focus on measuring time, using the days of the week in context and recognising a minute as a unit of time. They will have opportunities to compare lengths using direct comparison and place 3 lengths and heights in order. They will use language such as longer, shorter and taller, shorter. They will learn to describe the shape and size of shapes, naming the common 2D shapes (rectangle, circle, square, triangle) and describe position. We will focus on simple addition and subtraction, calculating more and less/fewer. Children will explore repeating patterns and continue patterns with two colours, shapes, objects and actions as well as symmetrical patterns. They will also practise solving ‘real life’ money problems and learn to recognise coins. You can help your child at home by using numbers in songs, rhymes and stories, counting things around you (stairs, cars, trees etc).There are lots of good board games that involve counting as well as many numbers, shapes and patterns that can be spotted in the environment.
Understanding The World: People and Communities, The World, Technology Key Topics In Kindergarten children will have opportunities to develop their understanding of: Who is in our family? How old are they? How we change in terms of what we can do as we grow up – How are 3 yr olds different to babies? Exploring our five senses Looking at our school, our house, places we like to go Exploring outdoors – collecting objects, sticks, leaves, conkers; The seasons – how we dress differently for the weather. Harvest – What Harvest is? Focus on farming aspect Diwali ‘Experience morning’: Rama and Sita story, Dance, art, music, food and craft Christmas – The nativity story – How we celebrate. Light and dark – dark dens, light boxes Changing states (reversible)– playing with ice, finding ways to melt ice to release frozen creatures. Making observations about what happens to chocolate when heated/cooled.
In Reception children will have many opportunities to talk about their families and think about how they are different/similar? What jobs our parents do? They will learn about different occupations and celebrate each others’ differences, beliefs, culture, skin colour, likes/dislikes, talents, languages. We will focus on how our bodies change as we grow up. They will explore our environment around the school – our town, our street and make maps. They will find out why Christians celebrate Harvest as a special time of the year and retell the story of Christmas, sharing Christmas memories, family traditions and customs. Children will investigate shadow puppets - how they work and explore light and dark and reversible changes through melting chocolate, butter. They will be encouraged to give reasons for why they think these changes happen. Our weekly Forest School will provide many opportunities to observe and comment on the changes in weather and how this affects the environment. Gardening – Children will prepare soil for planting and plan what to grow and where to grow it.
Digital Learning
In Kindergarten: Children will develop their awareness of matching technology to its purpose, e.g. pedestrian crossing to traffic lights, Google – searching for information, photocopier etc. They will learn how to switch on an ipad and input a security code. When coding they will develop their understanding of and use the instructions forwards, backwards, stop, start, play and repeat. They will make predictions thinking about what will happen next and explore simple coding adventure games, such as Bee Bot, Blue Bot, Daisy Dinosaur (challenge levels).
In Reception: Children will explore technology in the classroom/school and develop their awareness of selecting the correct app for specific purposes. Apps include Puppet pals, Google, GarageBand, QR code, Camera and Pic collage. They will develop their skills in Coding by learning to understand and follow instructions forwards, backwards, stop, start, play, repeat, turn and to recognise the symbols that represent these instructions. They will learn to use familiar buttons/icons as well as use Beebots to get to a specified place.
Expressive Arts and Design: Exploring and using media and materials, Being imaginative In Kindergarten: Creativity is encouraged in role-play, small-world play, story telling and in the craft area. Our role play areas are changed frequently and link with our thematic learning and the children’s interests. This term we anticipate a birthday party, a tree house, doctors, opticians and we are looking forward to hearing what the children come up with too. The art easel is always available and our paint station is planned so that the children can come and help themselves independently to paints from the dispensers. Craft materials are readily available for the children to cut and stick with our range of junk modelling materials. In Reception: Children will learn to use tools safely and competently to enable them to develop their art/design skills and enjoy a wide range of activities: They will draw and paint self portraits using mirrors and portraits of their friends; they will explore a wide range of techniques such as collage; printing with everyday objects, natural objects; wax relief – texture rubbing eg. bark; colour mixing with light box /primary colour paints; making 3D models with clay; weaving:
paper/ribbon weaving, wrapping wool; natural art – focus on Andy Goldsworthy; junk modelling: joining techniques (sellotape, glue, staple, cable ties etc.); textured art – using sand, rice, glitter, dried beans to create a scene/picture; tissue paper art; making puppets and salt dough/air dry clay decorations using cutters, rollers, moulding. They will learn to safely use a hammer by hammering nails into pumpkin, as well as drilling and threading conkers and using shapes to create an image.
Continuous provision activities aim to reinforce children's skills in creative development. For example: Loose parts play - Using inanimate objects to represent items Transient art - symmetry, patterns, form, detail, colour Small world play - Introducing a storyline into play, making up stories around toys, using outside props/junk model creations to enhance play Block play - Making structures, spatial awareness, balance, continuity, permanence, symmetry, length, measurement Puppet shows - Taking on a character, developing a storyline, imaginative play Role play - changing voice, developing story line, maintaining storyline, collaborative play, organising roles Sensory play - Pouring, mixing, whisking, cutting, slicing, measuring, moulding, using pipettes and syringes, sieves, dustpan and brush, funnels, shaking, mark making, colour mixing, blowing Making dens/enclosures - Collaborative play, listening to instructions Music - Experimenting with sound, making up simple compositions, experimenting with a range of percussion instruments, listening to music, experience basic musical concepts through mark making. Identify well known songs through melody Dance - Twirling, spinning, leaping, jumping, crouching, moving in time to beat, moving sideways, forwards, backwards, directional language. Following sequence of moves. In Kindergarten music lessons Children will use their whole body to respond to music by clapping, dancing and walking to music. Children will explore using their voices, learning the difference between their speaking and singing voice. They will explore different classroom instruments and find out how the sound is made. In the second half of the term we will be learning the songs from the Nativity, complete with actions. In Reception music lessons Children will sing simple songs based on the Kodaly method. They will show the pulse and the rhythm. Children will identify different classroom instruments and explore how the sound is made. They will perform on instruments together in class following visual instructions and controlling the sound. In the second half of the term we will focus on using our singing voices and learn the songs to the Nativity.